Volley have released their “Grass Roots” campaign which aims to celebrate sexual freedom and promote safe sex.

While everyone knows sex and advertising go hand in hand there is always a fine line between using it to simply shock or to actually raise awareness for an issue. In this case Volley seems to have successfully merged the two- sex PLUS a message. Where other campaigns are simply gratuitous in nature (like the Tom Ford campaign below) Volley have been smart and effective in their execution.

Initially the campaign looks to be just a huge ‘perve fest’ but once you get over the fact all the models are butt naked except for their volleys, you start to appreciate the video a lot more. It’s light and breezy and evokes feelings of being a young adult who is just coming into their own. It speaks of experimentation and acceptance and love.

We’re sick of being socially engineered and we shun political correctness.
We’re young and we’re rooting for change.
We are children of the sun and are comfortable in our own skin, so don’t tell us who to love or how to be.
Our campaign is all about the celebration of sexual expression whilst remembering to stay safe.
For this reason we’ve joined arms with Ansell condoms in support of safe sex, as whilst we’re all about rooting, we believe in ‘safety first’.

So stay safe this summer and root for us, root for change, root for VOLLEY.

The words that appear on Volley’s website to promote the Grassroots campaign are all about sexual expression and freedom yet still staying safe while experimenting. The shoe company has teamed up with condom manufacturer Ansell to drum home the point of “safety first.”

Volley global brand manager John Szwede said the #GRASSROOTS campaign was about freedom and self expression to be who you are.

“The #GRASSROOTS campaign uses our voice to speak to the frustration of many young Australians who feel like for the first time in generations their freedom is being eroded, instead of being advanced,” he said.
“The campaign celebrates one of the most universal freedoms, freedom of who we love and how we love them. In doing so we are ‘rooting for change’ in a typically lighthearted Australian way.”

And you can’t get more Australian than the good old Volley. Originally developed in 1939 as a tennis shoe by Adrian Quist, a famous Australian tennis player and employee of Dunlop, they have now become synonymous with the carefree Aussie lifestyle that is so unique to us and so many other countries aspire to achieve!

To launch the Volley Spring Summer 2016 collection, Volley teamed up with Australian photographer Marisa Taschke to take some racy images for the campaign. These will be used for magazines, posters and the like.

Is Australia ready for such a bold campaign? I’m not entirely sure we are. We’re still living in a time when a bare breast or a woman’s nipple is too controversial to be shown without censoring yet images of violence and torture are so commonplace our kid’s don’t even blink when they appear on screen.

If this campaign does anything (other than increase the sale of Volleys) maybe it can do it’s part to show people that there is nothing dirty or perverted about nudity. That women’s breasts do not need censoring. That love knows no boundaries and adheres to no rules.

Do we need nudity to sell shoes? Probably not. But where Volley has succeeded and others have failed is that their initial nude shock value quickly dissipates as the message of love, freedom and safety quickly emerge.

Check out the video for yourself and make up your own mind.

https://youtu.be/OS8zJPJr-Is

Photos: Marisa Taschke